The Sorting Hat's Decisions
by dancing in daydreams
Summary: Wouldn't Snape have been better of in Gryffindor and why was Peter Pettigrew sorted into Gryffindor? The sorting hat's thoughts as it sorts the mararuders and a few others.


**_The Sorting Hat's Decisions_**

Summary: Wouldn't Severus Snape have been better of in Gryffindor, where he wouldn't have become a death-eater as easily? Why was Peter Pettigrew sorted into Gryffindor? The Sorting Hat's thoughts as it sorts the marauders and a few others.

Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own any of these characters.

**Sirius Black:**

A black-haired boy with blue eyes, tall for his age puts me on his head and I immediately see what he expects: Slytherin, as all his respected family members. Of course, some Blacks were also sorted into different houses, I remember them well. I am sure that if these family members were ever mentioned around Sirius, it was as a bad example, the way a true Black never should be.

For Sirius, there is no other house he thinks he could be put into. I feel he isn't glad about this knowledge, I sense his resignation. He knows Slytherin is the only house that will be acceptable for his parents. He wants to please his parents, it is easy to read in his mind that they have often been disappointed in him in the past.

They disapprove that he isn't ambitious enough, at least in their eyes. They criticise that he hates cruelties and fails to obey all their orders. They dislike his open friendliness and have tried their best to erase these faults from their first son.

I sense that Sirius wants to be as loved as his younger brother Regulus and the best possibility he sees to achieve this is to be sorted into Slytherin and be successful in school, find pure-blood friends that his parents approve of, the sons of his parents' friends. He knows that he won't enjoy it but he thinks it is his only possibility and is prepared to do this to please his parents.

As I hesitate, I feel him shift below me, becoming unsure. He thought I would call out 'Slytherin' as soon as I touched his head.

At first, he had been as calm and resolved as only very few of the first-years are at the sorting but my hesitation is making him nervous. He senses that his place might not be in Slytherin and jumbled thoughts go racing through his head. He remembers the times he noticed that he was different than his parents and his brother and his self-confidence dwindles. He begins weighing the different possibilities in his head.

'Maybe it's Ravenclaw? Mum and Dad won't be happy about that but being clever isn't the worst possibility. Ravenclaws work hard to be the top of their classes and always try to follow the rules…it doesn't sound like much fun and I don't think I'm like that. I've never wanted to work hard for school, it is so dull sometimes and I prefer spending my time doing what I like. I don't really want to be in Ravenclaw but at least it is better than Hufflepuff…'

Sirius is clever, I can see that, it comes naturally to him but he doesn't care much about being good at school. He definitely isn't the right person for Ravenclaw.

'My parents will hate me if I am in Hufflepuff. It would be a disgrace for them. Hufflepuffs aren't talented in anything, at least that's what my cousin Narcissa told me. She said they are almost squibs, mostly mud-bloods that should be banned from the wizard community. Am I really that untalented, that stupid? I always thought I was quite clever but maybe I was wrong. I've often been told that I always overestimate myself…'

No, Hufflepuff isn't the right house for Sirius either. It is true, they are often a bit slow and Sirius is a quick thinker but that isn't the most important reason Sirius won't be a Hufflepuff. The greatest quality of Hufflepuff is kindness and the wish to help others whenever they need help and though Sirius is fair and will be able to overcome the prejudices his family taught him, he isn't totally unselfish. No, there is a spark of something else I can see in Sirius, even if he can't see it himself yet.

'Gryffindor would be even worse than Hufflepuff. Mum and Dad would be furious if I came into Hufflepuff but if I am in Gryffindor, I will be totally worthless in their opinion; they will despise me. Narcissa mentioned once that Gryffindors are blood-traitors and muggle-lovers. I don't know what they will do if I am in Gryffindor. But it would almost serve them right if I am sorted into Gryffindor and I would be so low down in their opinion that it wouldn't matter anymore. I could do what I please, I couldn't sink any lower in their esteem. I wouldn't have to try to live up to their standards anymore and would be free from their constant disapproving. I would get one terrible howler and be embarrassed in front of the whole school but afterwards they will know that their constant nagging isn't any use and they might finally leave me alone. And who knows, it might be a fun adventure…'

Yes, that is it. Adventurous, brave, prepared to do new things and looking forward to having some fun, the Gryffindor properties lie hidden in Sirius, already surfacing from time to time. It won't be easy for him, neither now or in the future but he will be able to face these challenges. The only house Sirius will fit in and that will prepare him for what he will have to face is:

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The boy sits up even straighter and determination not worry about what his parents think about him runs through him. He knows that if he wants to, he will manage this and that he will find new friends that are different from the people he has known until now. He takes me off his head and proudly walks over to his house table and his new family of students that cheer after a moment of stunned silence that a Black is sorted into Gryffindor.

**Lily Evans:**

This girl seems to be quiet and a bit nervous about the sorting but most of the new students are a bit jittery. She puts me onto her head with the long red hair and I slip down low over her remarkably green eyes. I quickly see the reason for her nervousness and that she is usually more sure of herself.

Lily is a muggle-born, she only found out that witches and wizards are more than fairy-tales two months ago when she turned eleven and got her letter from Hogwarts.

I see memories of an ordinary muggle childhood: her mother is a teacher, her father is a lawyer and she has an older sister, Petunia, that is often jealous that Lily gets more attention than she does.

Nothing about her life really seems to have been very extraordinary. Her memories show me a couple of family holidays at the seaside in Wales and a group of girls, her friends from primary school.

'I wish I could tell my friends where I really go to school now. They would be so surprised to hear that there really are witches and that I'm one! I would love to see their faces if they saw all of this! A real medieval castle full of pupils learning all about magic and I'm right in the middle of it with a strange talking hat on my head.

I wonder what lessons will be like and I hope that I won't be too far behind all those children that were born into wizard families.

I hope I'll find new friends quickly, I really miss my old friends already, though I only saw them this morning. I hate not being able to tell them the whole truth, I've always told them everything but somehow I'm not sure if they would even believe me if I couldn't show them all this.

I wonder why I am a witch and they are not. I don't have any witches or wizards in my family, my parents were even more surprised to hear I'm a witch than I was and I'm sure they would have told me if any relatives were too. Of course, Petunia is really jealous that I get so much attention because of it but she always is and it isn't as if I chose to be a witch though it seems to be great.

I was always wondering why all those strange things kept happening if I was angry, happy or really wanted something to happen. I guess all this is the explanation of everything.

I never thought there was so much I didn't know about and I can't believe that some of the pupils from wizard families know hardly anything about how normal people, "muggles", as they seem to be called here, live. I would really like to know what everyday life in a wizard family is like.'

Like most muggle-born pupils, Lily is nervous about the new school and doesn't really know what to expect of this totally new world that came barging into her life two months ago. She tried finding books about witches and wizards, reading was always where she found ideas about what she could do.

Of course, she didn't find much at her public library and she only got her school books from Diagon Alley yesterday, so there wasn't enough time for her to read and find out everything she would like to know yet.

The lack of knowledge about something annoys her and makes her nervous so that she didn't get much sleep last night. She had wanted to get a bit more sleep on the train but had seen so many new things to think about that she couldn't close an eye and listened to the stories older pupils told about Hogwarts. She first heard about the sorting system on the Hogwarts Express and doesn't know much about any of the four houses.

'I wonder what house I will be in and if it as important as that song implied. I don't really care what house I am in, though those second-years on the train were extremely afraid when those big Slytherins came and I must agree, they really seemed like bullies.'

Slytherin is definitely out of question for her. Apart from being muggle-born, which could easily put her into difficulties there, she doesn't have the ambitions to reach a certain status at any cost, especially by getting others into difficulties.

She seems to be open-hearted and able to make new friends fairly quickly but despite being kind, helpful and caring about others, she wouldn't be satisfied in Hufflepuff.

Ravenclaw would be a possibility for her, she is quite intelligent and reached good results in muggle primary school but the most remarkable thing about her personality is that she is always prepared to stand up for others if they are treated unfairly, a value she learned from her father.

When she sees the need to help somebody, she helps them, no matter what risk she might take on her this way. At primary school, she often interfered when pupils were bullied by other pupils, even if these were older and stronger than she was and she sometimes got punched as a result. This courage to stand up for others at any cost makes it easy for me to decide that Lily's house will be:

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Her hands shaking slightly, Lily takes me off her head and shyly walks to the Gryffindor table where she is welcomed warmly.

**Remus Lupin:**

As this pale, brown-haired boy, that looks quite ordinary except that his eyes are a shade between amber and gold, places me on his head, I know that he is the one I heard Professor Dumbledore talk about quite often in the last time.

Dumbledore had to convince many people and introduce many precautionary measures, for example the whomping willow and the passage to the Shrieking Shack, before this boy was admitted at Hogwarts. Not many headmasters are prepared to do all this, so I haven't had to sort many werewolves yet.

'I am glad Professor Dumbledore let me come to Hogwarts though he has to take so many precautions and there are so many prejudices against werewolves. I don't know where I should have gone to school if he hadn't taken me. None of the other wizard schools would have taken me, so I probably would have had to go to a muggle school, they don't know werewolves even exist. I didn't think I really would get the letter from Hogwarts. I can remember how Mum thought that Dumbledore had made a mistake and didn't know I was a werewolf. She even wrote him a letter to inform him but he just wrote back that they would have to find a place where I can transform without being a danger to anybody.'

I can see his memory of being bitten by a werewolf in a lonely forest at the age of seven. At first, his parents kept up hopes that their son was bitten by a normal wolf and that it is pure chance that this injury occurred on the night of a full moon.

I sense how terrible Remus felt when his parents had to give up their illusions after a month. Their reaction made becoming a werewolf even worse than the pain of his first transformation.

I see Remus' memories of his shocked and afraid parents. The crying mother and the silent father puzzle the exhausted boy who begins to think that they are disappointed because he had done something wrong, thinking everything was his own fault, not knowing his parents just didn't know how to handle the situation and feared for their son's future. This guilty feeling makes the transformations even more painful and nightmares begin haunting him. They still do but not every night as they did at first.

Knowing that most people don't accept werewolves and are afraid of them, his parents try keeping it a secret to prevent Remus from having to face all the prejudices connected with werewolves. They don't think that the other villagers might accept the fact that Remus is a werewolf if they just explain it to them.

Of course, it is impossible for it to stay secret for long in the small village they live in. The injuries Remus gives himself as a wolf and his exhaustion the day after the full moon are noticed by many people and a neighbour who hears him howl locked up alone in the cellar of their house quickly adds it up.

The news spreads through the village immediatly. The other villagers don't know much about werewolves except the tales they have been told by their parents and Remus' parents don't tell them how Remus became a werewolf and that he is only dangerous once a month. Concluding that the Lupins are embarrassed and that werewolves are every bit as dangerous as they have heard, parents tell their children to stay away from Remus, afraid their children will become werewolves as well.

I feel his disappointment of being left by his old friends one by one when they find out he is a werewolf. One week he has a whole group of friends and the next he is standing in a corner of the school playground all alone, not understanding why his friends avoid him all of a sudden. Remus approaches them and invites them to come over to his house and play but they shake their heads and say that their parents don't allow them to. Ashamed to tell his parents this, Remus just accepts this and after a while, he slowly understands on his own that his old friends stay away from him because he is a werewolf.

At first, his classmates just avoid him, listening to their parents that they should stay away from Remus because he is dangerous and a werewolf but they as they get older, they realise that he isn't as dangerous as everybody says. Seeing that nobody accepts Remus, they begin making fun of him and so Remus stays without friends.

The consequences of being a werewolf have influenced Remus deeply. It is hard for him to trust anybody, too many people have let him down already. Though he knows now that being a werewolf isn't his fault, he avoids letting others know too much about him, afraid of being rejected once again. It is easy to see how much energy it has cost him to keep going and keep hoping and he isn't sure he could stand going through all the disappointments again.

All the difficulties, fears and rejections have made him quiet and calm to the outside, trying to fit in and seem ordinary, so that nobody will notice much. He seems to be more mature than others in his age because of all he has been through. Knowing that he has to keep his secret in order to be accepted by others, he doesn't show what he thinks and feels but inside, he is terribly afraid that others could discover his secret and shun him.

'I don't really care what house I am sorted into, I just hope that nobody finds out that I'm a werewolf. Nobody knows me here and so they won't exclude me from the start and I think it will be possible to keep it secret. I might be able to live like any normal pupil, except for the full moons, of course. This is my chance to find friends at last.'

Though Remus is very studious, it is quite clear that facing his life has made him braver than most others and his optimism that he will manage shows that the house he belongs in is:

"GRYFFINDOR!"

As I say the house, he gets up, takes me off and walks over to the Gryffindor table without showing any emotion. I am sure he will sure that he will be happy there and find friends that will teach him to relax and have fun and that, most important of all, won't desert him if they find out about his secret.

**Peter Pettigrew:**

A chubby little boy stumbles to the stool and sits down quickly, seeming embarrassed to be in the centre of attention. Before he puts me on with shaking hands, I guess that he will probably be in Hufflepuff, most of the extremely nervous pupils do well in Hufflepuff. As I slip over his ears, I quickly realise that he won't be in Hufflepuff, he has different qualities than most Hufflepuffs and caring about others isn't very important for him.

I take a look at his memories and see that they are mainly of his mother, a witch that lost her husband early. Being reminded of her husband by Peter, she gave him everything he wanted, spoiling him completely.

He never had much contact to other children, his mother was afraid that they might be cruel to him somehow. The only boy that appears in his memories more than once is a black-haired boy called James Potter. Peter seems to admire him deeply, one could almost think he worships James, he seems to be prepared to do anything for James and he hopes to be in the same house as James.

'I really want James to be sorted into the same house as me. We could have so much fun if we are put together. Besides, I know nobody else here. '

There are various memories where James does mischief of some kind or the other, Peter playing a smaller part in it. If they are caught, Peter always claims to have done it so that James isn't in trouble.

I wonder where I should put Peter. It is always difficult to sort the pupils that don't really have any special properties, and don't have anything that attracts attention at all. Luckily, there aren't many of these pupils, they usually only turn up every few years. Most of those that are seldom noticed have some kind of special characteristic but Peter seems to be totally normal, no feature that makes him different from others and that I could sort him by. He seems to be as grey and as little attention-grabbing as a mouse.

He isn't interested in books and school that much so though I see he is clever in his own ways, Ravenclaw isn't the right house for him.

I exclude Slytherin without much thought. He is too unsure of himself and would only be tormented by the others.

I believe he wouldn't do well in Hufflepuff, though that usually is a good choice for people that aren't that self-confident. He wouldn't fit in, he cares too little about others.

It really isn't easy to place Peter. If he were in an old wizard family that usually is in the same house, I would have put him there as soon as I noticed there aren't very many special qualities that he has. It is quite exhausting to sort all the new pupils one after the other and I am often tired at 'P' already.

Peter is becoming extremely nervous that I need so much time to decide.

'Why is this taking so long? I'm sure it didn't take so long to sort any of the others. Maybe the hat will decide I'm a squib after all. I wonder if that has ever happened before. I hope that doesn't happen to me. It would be so embarrassing. I really hope the hat decides quickly. What if it can't sort me? Will they just put me into any of the houses and pretend nothing unusual happened? Maybe there are often pupils the hat can't sort and it doesn't really matter, the hat is just for those pupils that couldn't be taught anywhere and some pupils could be taught in any of the houses. But then the hat would just say so. Besides, I've never heard that anybody wasn't sorted. I can hear the other pupils whispering already. Maybe the hat has never needed so long to sort somebody. What will they do? I hope it hurries. I don't care what house I'm put into anymore, I just want to be put somewhere as soon as possible.'

Let me think, I don't want to forget anything that is important. No, it isn't Ravenclaw, Slytherin or Hufflepuff for Peter. That leaves Gryffindor. There isn't much courage in him at first sight but courage is often hidden deep down. Oh, and Peter is able to admire others. Admiration is often able to bring out the hidden courage. I guess the choice for Peter might be:

"GRYFFINDOR!"

As Peter takes me off relieved, I get a fleeting sight of something else and realise I have made a grave mistake. I see how Peter would do anything to be popular, to be recognised. He isn't brave, he is terribly ambitious in his own way.

I never should have put him in Gryffindor, it should have been Slytherin but I didn't even really consider putting him there because he seemed so shy. I wish that I would have paid better attention to everything I saw in Peter, something makes me feel that my decision will have terrible consequences.

For the first time, I regret that it is impossible for me to change the house somebody is sorted into once I have said it aloud. Peter will have to be in Gryffindor, whatever will come of it.

**James Potter:**

I know that this is the boy I saw in Peter's memories so often. I am still thinking about my mistake and what consequences it might have and fear that I just might not be good enough at sorting the pupils into their houses anymore. Worried that I might not be able to decide what house to put James in either, I am set onto James head and I immediately see that I was wrong; James is easy to sort.

James grew up in an old wizard family, with a long tradition of Gryffindors. His childhood wasn't very unusual, he is an only child and his parents cared for him much but left him enough space to develop his own interests, thoughts and opinions. Since James is an only child, they made sure he has much contact with other children, from other wizard families but also the children from their muggle-neighbourhood.

I can see plenty of memories in which James and a whole group of other children run through the little forest close to his house and play all kinds of games, building a tree-house and fishing in a little river.

One memory I see is how five-year old James and his group of friends see a puppy sitting on a log in the churning river after a strong rainfall. They know it will fall off and drown sooner or later and sadly watch as it floats past, knowing it would be too dangerous to try and save it. It is almost out of sight when James runs after it, jumps into the river and saves it, although he can't swim yet and almost drowns himself. His friends manage to pull him out soaking wet but he has saved the puppy which he keeps as a pet for a long time afterwards.

James has a cheerful character and quickly makes friends with others. He knows what he wants and doesn't give his goals up easily but he knows his limits and can accept them. Though he often seems talkative and a bit careless, he is also able to listen to others if they have a problem, is honest and doesn't give away secrets.

James seems to be able to get along with almost everybody, the only people he hates are those that are dishonest and tell lies behind their friends' backs just to get attention. He shows them openly what he thinks about them and doesn't hesitate making fun of them in return, not really caring about why they came to be like this or how they might feel. Like most eleven-year old boys, James only sees somebody being unfair and doesn't care much about the reasons.

Though James is clever and can care a lot about others, the quality I see strongest in him is courage to face all kinds of difficulties and to stand up to defend the people he cares for. I check carefully to see if there aren't any properties I have missed but though James is convinced of himself, he knows his faults and isn't very ambitious and this time, I really am sure that Slytherin is not the right house.

Besides, I remember the influence James has on Peter and I hope that if I place James in the same house, he will be able to lessen the harm my wrong decision might cause. I can see that James has a great influence on others and will be very popular at Hogwarts. Though I can see he can be very mischievous, I know that not even the teachers will be able to dislike him.

'I hope I will be in Gryffindor. Dad told me how much fun he had there. I can't wait to try out that old invisibility cloak he gave me before I left. I guess I can use it to explore the secret parts of the castle and go out of the dormitories after lights-out. Dad told me he and his friends found a way to get into the kitchen. He said something about a ticklish pear before Mum came and Dad told me I shouldn't tell her about it. Mum was already suspicious and asked Dad if he had given me that old cloak but he said I was still too young for that and winked at me when she wasn't looking.

I wonder what other kinds of things Dad and his friends did at Hogwarts.

I can't wait to see what kind of friends I'll find here. I don't really know anybody except Peter that well, although I've already seen a few others before. That black-haired boy that was sorted into Gryffindor quite at the beginning looks nice and as if you could have a lot of fun with him. If I'm sorted into Gryffindor like I think I will, I'll try to get to know him, though I think his name is Sirius Black. I heard Mum and Dad talk about the Blacks once, though I'm sure I wasn't supposed to hear that and what they said didn't sound as if the Blacks are very nice people.

Maybe I got the name wrong or Sirius is from a different family called Black. Anyway, I think he seems nice.'

James is one of the pupils I am sure will do best in the house his family is traditionally placed in, so though I enjoy listening to his lively thoughts, I don't hesitate long before I shout:

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The Gryffindor pupils cheer that they have another new pupil that seemed to be sorted almost as soon as I touched his head. The Potters have always had a good reputation (except maybe in the families with a long Slytherin tradition) and James has inherited his father's charm, just like he looks almost like him when he was sorted.

James gets up beaming, goes over to the Gryffindor table and I see how he sits down next to Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew grinning and tells them that he hadn't expected anything else.

**Severus Snape:**

A skinny boy with slightly greasy black hair and a small scowl sits down. As I am set onto his head, I remember what his family is like: a family that has mostly consisted of Slytherins for a while and has tried to gain more importance in the wizard community without much success. Severus' father already had high aims when I sorted him but he didn't seem to be able to take disappointments very well.

I see my assumptions confirmed when I looked at Severus' memories. His father had obviously not succeeded in playing a more important role than his own father and hadn't been able to handle it. He began drinking and beating up his wife and son.

Severus' mother tried to stop his drinking at first but soon resigned and fell into depression, leaving Severus to cope with his father as good as he could and not caring much about him anymore.

To the outside, Severus' parents held the picture of a happy family upright and Severus regularly made up stories to explain his bruises.

I feel slightly reminded of Sirius Black who has also had to cope with a family that didn't love him but where Sirius became defiant and was soon to rebel, becoming self-confident and not caring much about what others thought of him, Severus had become silent and insecure. He stayed away from others, kept to himself, finding no friends because he was ashamed of his family and feared somebody could find out.

The other children soon decided he was strange and began making fun of him, to which Severus reacted by taking revenge on others that were unsure of themselves. This way, Severus was soon unpopular even among those that didn't mind him before.

In spite of his many negative properties that are mostly caused by his unhappy childhood and the resulting insecurity, I can see positive sides in this boy as well. He isn't truly unfair and if he gets the right encouragement, he might yet find the right way for himself. Severus is not nearly as ambitious as his father and grandfather were, though he definitely wants recognition as well. Maybe I should put him in Gryffindor, it might do him good to see things from a different point of view, he could learn to become independent from his father.

'No, please not Gryffindor! I couldn't stand being all alone in Gryffindor, in Slytherin there are a few I at least know a bit. Please don't put me in Gryffindor!'

I always try to respect what the students believe themselves capable of. Besides, I don't want to take another risk, I think my decision about Peter Pettigrew might already have too many negative consequences, one wrong decision is bad enough.

If I had to sort Sirius Black now, I probably would place him in Slytherin instead of Gryffindor as well, though I don't doubt that I made the right decision with him.

I consider the other possibilities for Severus. There is always Hufflepuff but Severus is definitely not the person for Hufflepuff, he cares too little about others and wouldn't be satisfied there. It isn't Ravenclaw either, though Severus is clever enough, studying will never be what he cares for most.

That leaves Gryffindor and Slytherin. I'm not sure he will be happy in Slytherin, no matter what he thinks. It won't help him much that he already knows some of the other students, it will never be easy for him to find friends and most Slytherins are suspicious and don't trust in anybody quickly. He would probably be alone and without friends there as he fears.

Gryffindor might be a better choice for him, he might even find friends there. Who knows, he and Sirius Black are quite similar in some ways, it would be easier for them if they were in the same house and they could be friends. I think they have to become either close friends or enemies, they are too much the same to be indifferent to each other. I think Sirius Black might soon hate Severus if he is put in Slytherin; he will despise him for not turning his back on the pure-blood mania.

'I can't be in Gryffindor! I have never been brave, or else I would have stood up to my father when he beat me and Mum up. Besides, my father would kill me! I would rather go to Slytherin like he expects me to. I really don't want to be in Gryffindor!'

Though I believe that Severus would quickly begin making his own decisions and learn to stand up for what he believes, I know his will is more important in this decision. If Severus sees no possibility to be successful in Gryffindor, he would block all his possibilities there anyway. He might learn to understand and use the Gryffindor properties in him later but for now, I won't take another risk and put him in:

"SLYTHERIN!"

I feel his sigh of relief as he takes me off and goes over to the Slytherin table, where he is welcomed by reluctant applause. Slytherins prefer students that I don't hesitate to sort into their house and most of them are already looking more forward to the feast than to getting another small, skinny first-year. It won't be easy for Severus in Slytherin.


End file.
